After five years, the Bowman Avenue Dam sluice gate was finally approved at the March 28 City Council meeting. The vote was 7-0.

 

After five years, the Bowman Avenue Dam sluice gate was finally approved at the March 28 City Council meeting. The vote was 7-0.

 

 

In presenting the winning bids for approval by the Council, City Manager Scott Pickup explained the winning bid came in substantially below budget. The total award to two contractors, ELQ Industries and WSP Sells Consulting, was $1,083,025.

 

 

“The good news is that this leaves us with money to move forward on other work,” said Mr. Pickup, referring to soil and rock testing that the City will conduct at the upper pond behind the dam. These studies, to be conducted while the sluice gate is being installed later this spring, will help determine the feasibility of widening and deepening the upper pond. As Mr. Pickup noted, “This is the first of many steps regarding flooding.”

 

 

Leaders of the Rye Flood Coalition, Holly Kennedy, Bernie Altoff, and Carolina Johnson, commended the City for getting the project underway.

 

 

In extended remarks after the meeting, Ms. Kennedy said: “After five years, two mayors, several City Council iterations, two City Managers, a State Assemblyman, our County Legislator, and several different Westchester municipalities working on the project, I am delighted to see that perseverance prevailed, and at long last the City of Rye will be improving a key part of its flood mitigation efforts by putting in a sluice gate to better manage the flow of water at the Bowman Avenue Dam.

 

 

“Our volunteer Rye Flood Coalition never lost faith or focus and like the Grateful Dead song we just keep on trucking…. and what a long, strange trip it’s been.

 

 

“I truly am grateful for the enormous efforts of Scott Pickup, Doug French, Steve Otis, Judy Myers, George Latimer, and volunteers Andy Goodenough, Bob Gay, Bernie Altoff, Carolina Johnson, Peter Sinnot and many others,” Ms. Kennedy continued. “We are all looking forward to the next project, which is to expand the water retention capacity behind the dam, and to the future, where Rye businesses, citizens, and community institutions no longer have to suffer from flood waters.”